Rates for shipping containers from east Asia and China to the US West Coast fell this week, which may cause some carriers who were planning general rate increases (GRIs) for 1 December to reconsider.

Rates from online freight shipping marketplace and platform provider Freightos fell by 6% from the previous week but rose by 6% to the East Coast.

Judah Levine, head of research at Freightos, said rates are again facing downward pressure after capacity management and October GRIs stopped the slide for a while.

“Since October, container carriers have been contending with downward pressure on rates from both the seasonal lull in demand and growing capacity on the major East-West trades,” Levine said. “Nonetheless, driven by significant steps to reduce capacity, they succeeded in pushing through mid-October GRIs that rescued rates from two-year lows, and pushed prices up again with 1 November rate increases.”

While weekly rates showed a single-digit decrease, Levine said daily rates “so far this week have slipped more than 20% to about $2,100/FEU (40-foot equivalent unit), erasing the November gains and, for now, are back at about their mid-October GRI bump level”.

While Freightos showed a weekly increase on Asia-USEC rates, that trade lane is also being pressured lower.

“East Coast daily prices have also fallen by more than 20% so far this week to about $3,000/FEU, back to pre-October GRI levels,” Levine said. “Some carriers have December GRIs planned, but they may reconsider given this week’s sharp retreat.”

Lars Jensen, president of consultant Vespucci Maritime, said that spot rates on the New York Shipping Exchange Freight Index (NYFI) show some sharp differences on sub trades from Asia to US.

From Asia-USWC, rates increased $609/FEU from China, $367/FEU from SE Asia, and $389/FEU from NE Asia.

“But for 20-foot containers (TEU) it was a more mixed bag as China increased $57/TEU, SE Asia decreased $25/TEU, and NE Asia rocketed up $744/TEU in just a single week,” Jensen said.

USEC rates from Asia developed quite differently, Jensen said.

Forty-foot containers saw rates increase $160/FEU from China, SE Asia rates increased $50/FEU, and NE Asia rates rose by $226/FEU.

Twenty-foot containers rose by $160/TEU from China. From SE Asia, rates went up $58/TEU, but NE Asis rates fell by $175/TEU.

“This shows not only a somewhat unsettled market on the Pacific, but also how conditions on subtrades can differ quite significantly,” Jensen said.

Container ships and costs for shipping containers are relevant to the chemical industry because while most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, container ships transport polymers, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), are shipped in pellets. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is also shipped in containers.

They also transport liquid chemicals in isotanks.
Source: ICIS by Adam Yanelli, https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2025/11/19/11157178/asia-us-transpacific-container-rates-slide-as-some-carriers-eye-1-december-increases/